Women in the UK technology sector are offered a salary 9% lower than men

Women in the UK who work within the technology sector are offered a median salary that is 9% lower than their male colleagues, according to research by Hired.

Its Women, work and the state of wage inequality report, which analysed 10,000 UK job offers within the technology industry across 3,000 candidates and 750 organisations, found that there is a 17% difference in the median salary offered to women by organisations that employ between 201 and 1,000 staff.

The median salary offered to women by organisations with less than 200 employees is 9% lower than that offered to men. This compares to 8% for organisations with over 1,000 employees.

The research found that women who work in technology sales roles are offered a median salary that is 5% less than male employees, and this increases to 9% for women who work in software engineering.

The 9% gap in the median salary offered to women in the UK technology industry compares to 8% in the US technology industry, 7% in Canada, and 5% in Australia.

Juney Ham, chief marketplace officer at Hired, said: “It’s been almost half a century since the Equal Pay Act was passed, and six years since the Equality Act that suspended it. Despite this legislation, which made it illegal for men and women to be paid differently for doing the same work, a significant wage gap continues to exist between genders in the UK and around the world. And the issue doesn’t stop at equal pay. British women are still less likely to make it into the boardroom or be promoted than their male counterparts.

“By publishing these findings, our hope is to encourage open conversation and debate around this issue. We want to encourage employers to reflect on their own compensation policies and identify possible issues of gender bias that may be present within their organisations.”